"Historical Evidence for Climate Instability and Environmental Catastrophes in Northern Syria and the Jazira:
The Chronicle of Michael the Syrian," by Magnus Widell, from
Environment and History, Vol. 13, No. 1 (February 2007), pp. 47-70, in 25 searchable pdf pages. From the Abstract: "Significant cataclysms occurred frequently throughout the history of northern Syria and the Jazira [northern Mesopotamia], and had severe short- and long-term implications on the region's economy and the social structure. This paper uses the
Chronicle of Michael the Syrian, a Patriarch of Antioch in the late twelfth century A.D., as a representation of environmental and climatic catastrophes taking place in northern Syria and the Jazira... The proportions, general frequency and the clustering tendency of the different disasters in the
Chronicle are treated in detail, as well as their general economic, environmental and social significance. The article argues that diversified subsistence and a high degree of flexibility were essential for ancient Mesopotamian societies to absorb the many risks that life in this marginal semiarid environment involved." Uploaded by Robert Bedrosian. Internet Archive has Matti Moosa's English translation of the entire Chronicle, divided into six parts:
Michael the Syrian's Chronicle.
